To form a long term evolution (LTE) cellular connection, user equipment (UE), such as a mobile phone, will scan for a suitable cell. Upon locating and selecting a suitable cell, the UE will attempt to connect to a base station, or eNodeB (eNB), associated with the selected suitable cell. The UE will perform a random access channel (RACH) procedure in order to secure a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the eNB. After an RRC connection is successfully set up, the UE performs a non-access stratum (NAS) procedure by sending a NAS request to the network's mobility management entity (MME). Examples of NAS requests include attach, tracking area update (TAU), and service requests.
A successful LTE cellular connection requires both a successful RACH procedure and a successful NAS procedure. If there is a failure at the RACH level or the NAS level, the UE will retry to connect to the network via the initially selected, or serving, eNB. In conventional implementations of LTE standards, as long as basic suitability requirements are met, the UE will not attempt to connect via an eNB other than the serving eNB. However, in a situation of heavy radio congestion, such as in a stadium, the UE may not be able to connect successfully to the LTE network via the serving eNB. To this end, UE may continuously send connection request to the LTE network until the connection request is successful. This could further drain network resources.